The Past Beneath Our Feet (The Friday Ficks S6 E38)

Sometimes the past is closer than we think.

My youngest daughter, Sarah Joy, is a senior at Auburn University and will graduate in 2027. Her grandmother, Joy Love Tomasso, graduated from Auburn in 1951.

Different generations living in very different worlds, 75 years apart. And yet, the connections are everywhere.

Both are sisters in Phi Mu. Sarah Joy's middle name is a nod to her grandmother. Both have also strolled the beaches of Destin, FL, a favorite escape for Auburn students.

But there is one connection Sarah Joy encounters simply by walking across campus. The dormitory where her grandmother lived as an Auburn student still houses undergraduates today.

A young woman named Joy walked those paths in 1951. Today, her granddaughter walks those same paths.

It makes me wonder how often you move through your life surrounded by evidence of those who came before you without ever stopping to notice.

The buildings. The traditions. The places. The names. The stories.

While laser-focused on where you’re going, sometimes you forget to appreciate the people and places that helped make your journey possible.

Because you don't begin every story from scratch. You inherit pieces of them. And if you're fortunate, you get the chance to carry some of those pieces forward.

Joy is 96 and very much alive, so this isn't a story about looking backward. It's about looking around, recognizing the extraordinary arc of time connecting two lives, and being grateful for the privilege of walking a path that someone you love walked before you.

The past isn't always behind you.

Sometimes, it's right beneath your feet.

Own the day. Own the weekend.

Carl